Seven Inland Empire students arrested since Santee shooting

Seven students in three Inland Empire communities have been
arrested for allegedly making violent threats since Monday's
shooting at a San Diego County school that left two dead and 13
wounded.

Authorities say the threats included plans to kill more than a
dozen students, while another involved leaving a bomb on a
teacher's desk.

The latest arrest happened Wednesday in Perris when a
15-year-old Nuevo boy was taken into custody at Perris High School,
said Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Mark Lohman. The incident
surrounding the teen's arrest actually started Friday, three days
before the deadly shooting at Santana High in Santee, east of San
Diego.

"He had been picking on another student and made reference to
the incident at Columbine High," Lohman said Wednesday. "He told
the other student that he had access to weapons, but, unlike
Columbine, he said, he would leave no survivors."

The threat was reported to officials Monday, but the 15-year-old
suspect was not in school Monday or Tuesday, Lohman said. When he
returned to school Wednesday, he was interviewed and arrested after
officials found a 4-inch knife in his possession, the sergeant
said.

A search was conducted at the youth's home, but no weapons were
found, authorities said.

In the desert town of Twentynine Palms, two 17-year-old boys at
Monument High School were arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of
conspiracy to commit murder and civil rights violations, said San
Bernardino County sheriff's spokesman Chip Patterson. They were
held in juvenile hall and their identities withheld.

Deputies found a .22-caliber rifle at the home of one teen, and
a list with the names of 16 students the pair reportedly planned to
target at the other home. The teens' motives were unknown and
investigators are interviewing those on the list, he said.

A classmate told her father she had overheard the students
talking about their hit list during the past two weeks, Patterson
said. She decided to report the conversations after the Santana
High shootings.

Also Tuesday, in Ontario, three junior high school students were
arrested for allegedly threatening to place a bomb on a teacher's
desk, authorities said. Woodcrest Junior High School students
reported the threats to the principal.

Two 12-year-olds and a 13-year-old had planned the threat since
last week, although no bomb-making materials were found at their
homes and they were arrested on suspicion of making terrorist
threats, said Ontario police Detective Mike Macias.

"It was no secret that these three kids were going to carry this
out," Macias said. "They were planning to plant the bomb this
Friday."

He said one of the students was apparently angry with a male
teacher because of an incident in class last week. As they
questioned them, officers said, the boys began to cry and confirmed
making the threat.

On Tuesday, two other Perris students were arrested in separate
incidents. An 18-year-old, identified as Luis Benavides, was
arrested at Perris High with a knife with a 4-inch blade in his
possession, Lohman said. A teacher reported she had heard one make
a comment about "needing help" because they "wanted to kill someone
today," Lohman said. Officers received consent to search his home
where they found two small-caliber rifles and ammunition unsecured
inside, the sergeant said.

The weapons were seized for safekeeping and Benavides was
arrested on suspicion of possessing a weapon on school grounds,
which is a felony, Lohman said. He was booked at the Robert Presley
Detention Center in Riverside.

A 14-year-old boy was arrested after a separate incident at
Perris Community Day School, the district's continuation school.
The youth, who had been in a meeting with school officials and his
mother regarding a transfer to the school, stormed from the room
and told school officials that, if forced, he would bring a gun to
school and kill everyone, Lohman said.

Officers went to his Perris home and arrested the youth on
suspicion of making terrorist threats. No weapons were found at
that boy's home.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact staff
writer John Hall at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or
jhall@nctimes.com.